Lydia Greenway matched speed of hand skills with nerveless composure to become England’s heroine as they regained the women’s Ashes.

Greenway made 80 from 64 balls as England won the second Twenty20 international with six balls to spare, overcoming a dreadful start suring which they slipped to nine for three chasing 128 for victory.

Charlotte Edwards, the England captain, will be presented with the Ashes trophy at Durham on Saturday, when once again the women’s game will precede the men’s match.

Edwards and her opposite number, Jodie Fields, both praised the new multi-game format in which points have been tallied up from the Test match, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s to date. England now have an unassailable 10-4 lead with one T20 match to play.

The Australian team dined with the men’s side on Monday night and can now swap stories on how it feels to lose an Ashes series in England.

“I am pretty gutted to sit here and to have lost the Ashes,” Fields said. “When the men lost we saw it as our responsibility to bring it home but now both teams go home without the Ashes. All we can do is go away, look at ourselves and improve for the series in January.”

Just like the men, England and Australia’s women have a quick turnaround before the return series in the New Year which again will be played on a points format with a Test match at the WACA and Twenty20s before the men’s matches at the MCG, Hobart and Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Edwards is the only survivor of the two teams who founded the Ashes in 1998 when two mini bats were burnt in the Harris Gardens at Lord’s with the ashes encased in a wooden ball.

On Saturday she will be handed the trophy, the culmination of a reversal in fortunes after a disappointing World Cup campaign in the winter. It led to a change of management with Paul Shaw appointed head coach and assisted by former Leicestershire player Carl Crowe and Northamptonshire and England all-rounder David Capel.

The series started with a drawn Test and Australia appeared in control when they won the first one-day international at Lord's but since then England have turned around their form with four successive victories.

For the second time in two days England broke the record for the highest individual score with Greenway eclipsing Sarah Taylor’s 77 at Chelmsford. “It is probably my best innings,” said Greenway. “The Ashes were there to be won and we definitely did not want to leave it until Durham."

Meg Lanning’s 60 was the cornerstone of Australia’s innings which fizzled out in the final stages with three wickets falling in the last over.

It was not a demanding target for England but they looked nervous. In the third over, Taylor drove a catch straight back at Sarah Coyte, who two balls later bowled Daniella Wyatt with an inswinger.

Greenway should have been stumped on 10 by Fields and it was the stroke of luck England needed. Greenway’s laps and reverse sweeps were brilliantly precise and had the hallmarks of her hockey playing background.

She brought up her fifty with a sweep off middle stump and a stand of 40 off 27 balls with Natalie Sciver settled the match.